Charity scammers

@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
October 26, 2012 1:15pm CST
This year charity scammers have been a problem in my country. One man walked from door to door with a fake donation box. He claimed to be from the Red Cross, but that was a lie, and he intended to keep the money. He visited many people and his donation box was almost full, but some people got suspicious and called the police and he was caught before he was able to escape with the money. In another case two girls ran away with the money that they collected. The Red Cross was looking for volunteers and the two girls signed up as volunteers. They collected money like the other volunteers, but instead of returning with the money they disappeared without a trace. They had used false names, addresses and phonenumbers, but when the Red Cross discovered their lies it was too late and the girls were gone. I also collect money for charity and unfortunately those scammers ruin it for other people who collect money for charity. Many people are suspicous and they ask me: "How do I know that you are really from the lung assocation?" or "How do I know that you don't intend to put the money in your own pocket?" I try to explain that I am not a scammer, but some people still don't believe me, and I do understand that the news about the scammers make it hard for people to believe the people who actually collect money for charity. Are charity scammers a problem in your country too? Have you met any scammers who claimed to collect money for charity?
3 people like this
9 responses
@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
26 Oct 12
I never give a cent to those asking for money this way. Especially during Christmas holidays, we'd see some people from this or that charity board a bus or jeep and ask for donations. I just ignore them totally. It's better to give to charities that you'll be sure will reach the intended recipients. I do give some change sometimes when buying MRT tickets. There are times they have reps from Red Cross, I think, stationed there asking for donations. I feel that's more legit than those who you encounter in random places.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
28 Oct 12
Sadly that's true. Even with the legit charities, you can't be sure if everything they receive goes to charity. What's better for me is go directly to who you want to help like my friends and I did before. We went to an orphanage and held a feeding program. But of course there are other needs a charity purports to address so if you want to help out with those, I think it'd be safe to go with the well-known ones like those formed by local media here in our country.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
27 Oct 12
Unfortunately you can't always be sure that your money reach the intended recipients. Some people pretend to collect money for charity and actually put the money in their own pockets. The fake fund-raisers from my country make people very skeptical and many of them don't trust the real fund-raisers because of bad experiences with the scammers. The scammers ruin things for the real fund-raisers like myself because many people don't trust us anymore, but I do understand that people get skeptical.
@mariaperalta (19073)
• Mexico
26 Oct 12
We get this all the time here in Mexico. We had a guy come to our church a few weeks ago, he claimed he was american and had his passport stolen and wallet. The church people donated 400.00 to him. A few days later, people say him on the street buying tourist things. Why do people scam us?
@ravisivan (14079)
• India
26 Oct 12
this is ok. he is telling a lie which people believe and give. but people who collect for charities appropriate a portion for their benefit . some collect 100 and give to charity 10 only. they are convinced what they do is right.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
26 Oct 12
I would have been angry if I had seen the man in the street buying tourist things. Some people take advantage of other people's generosity and hide their real intentions The situation you described reminds of me a situation that I experienced in the past. I met a beggar who showed me a piece of paper saying that he was deaf-mute and he asked me for money, but he forgot that he was mute and answered me when I talked to him! Unfortunately that kind of scams have become quite common. I would like to help people who are really in need of help, but some people lie about their situation.
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
27 Oct 12
You hear strict stories and cases such like this all the time here. They even find ways to cheat via craigslist, social networking sites, etc. You hear about them all the time. So I guess anymore a lot of these people ruin it for everyone else soit is best to be cautious all the time as well.
1 person likes this
@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
26 Oct 12
Dear Porcospino! Thanks for starting an interesting discussion. Yes, nowadays many people collect money in the name of charity and they run away with the money thus collected. Unfortunately many educated people are also seen involved in such inhumane activities. I don't know about your country, but in India every charitable Institute has to register itself with government and it has to obtain permission from Charity commissioner before collecting fund for any cause. Generally the members of Charity Organizations carry a copy of this permission from the charity Commissioner along with them. These Charity Organizations are suppose to get their accounts audited by registered Chartered Accountants and present the same to Charity Commissioner every year and they are also suppose publish such audit statement in the Local News Paper. So we can ask for the permission f the charity Commissioner any time from the person who is coming to collect any fund. In fact every fund collected by the Charity Organizations are to be acknowledged with due receipts, which the volunteers carry with them. Thus carrying donation boxes with out giving any receipts with no permission from Charity Commissioner is nothing but duping the people. Since I stay quite away from the Society on a Stud farm, I don't get such people at my place. Yes, I recall some ladies at Delhi Railway station few years back who used to pin a flag on the shirts of the people and would ask for donation in their donation boxes! I really have no idea if this thing is still continuing there or not as I have not visited the Railway station in the recent past. This type of scamming should be discouraged and if needed we should ask for the permission from these people to collect the donations and we should take help of local police to nab such cheaters. Thanks! It was nice topic of discussion and I enjoyed participating in it!
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
30 Oct 12
Thank you for your detailed response. It was interesting to read about the rules in your country, I didn't know those rules. In my country, it is illegal to collect money unless you get permission from the police. We also have something called the charity law which means that you are allowed walk around from door to door and sell things if the money is spent on charity. You are not allowed to sell other things that way (for instance if you have a private business and intend to keep the money that you earn) The magazines that I sell at the moment are from the lung association and the money from the magazines is spent on research, activities for lung patients etc and because of that those magazines are a part of the charity law and it is legal to walk around from door to door. Unfortunately we had a problem with charity scammers this year. One scammer was caught, but some of the others managed to escape with the money they had collected. They had used false names and addresses and the organisations don't check the personal information of the people who sign up, that is main reason why why managed to scam everyone. If the organization had double-checked the information beforehand they would have known that the addresses didn't exist.
@myfb2009 (8296)
• Malaysia
28 Oct 12
Porco, same goes for my area here, there are lots and many types of scammers around. Nowadays, we must be careful as not to simply gives donation. I make sure that i give donation to those who really deserved it. I usually make donation to those charity associations and they always issue receipt to me. Doing some charities is good for everyone of us. The only problem is, some people tends to get the chance for own benefit. It is really a pity to have this kind of scammers around who pretended to collect money for charity. Hope you don't feel disappointed when they thought you are also one of them. Have a nice weekend....
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
4 Jan 13
Yes, it is a pity that some people pretend to collect money for charity and actually put the money in their own pockets. That makes it hard to trust the real charity collectors and many people are skeptical. The lack of trust is not a good thing for those of us who actually collect money for charity, but on the other hand I do undestand that people find it hard to trust us when they have heard the stories about the scammers in the news.
@beenice2 (2967)
• Sackville, New Brunswick
26 Oct 12
I didn't hear about it yet, but because of certain provinces ( maritime's)in Canada it might happen. Well it is not surprising to see that because it is so hard to make a living nowadays, and it is very frustrating to live in a world that doesn't help that doesn't care ( government). Have fun.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
30 Oct 12
A lot of people find it hard to make a living today, that is true. In my country charity scams have become much more common than they were in the past and we sometimes hear about people who collect money for charity and disappear with the money that they have collected. The last time it happpened some girls who collected money for the Red Cross used false names and addresses and ran away with the money that they had collected. As far as I know they still didn't catch them. Situations like that affect the other people who collect money for charity, because people get skeptical and they don't believe that you are honest.
@ravisivan (14079)
• India
26 Oct 12
yes. in chennai also we get a lot of people like this. I do not normally give such donations to unknown people. i believe in helping people known to us --people working in our house or staying near our house.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
26 Oct 12
You are less likely to get scammed if you help people you know instead of strangers, because it is hard to know if strangers can be trusted or not. When I sell magazines from the lung association I visit the homes of strangers and a lot of them don't trust me because of the news stories about the charity scammers. I am honest and I would never put the money in my own pocket, but I do understand that they people get suspicious when they have heard those stories in the news.
@KOSTAS499 (1624)
• Greece
6 Apr 13
Oh yeah, all the time. So, I stopped giving. To anyone. It is not good because some might really be in need. But I can find someone I know needs help and do something.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
8 Jan 13
I hate it when this happens, usually I see such people taking advantage over frauding for a “fund-raiser” but in the latter, they are just using the money for their personal purpose. I also don’t like the fact that some people go over the name of God to sell their stuffs, it’s like they are using such reasons to fool other people. One time, I had this experience where such people go over public transport and start begging displaying their ID’s that they are from some legit fund raising organization but they were really obvious on their scam.
1 person likes this